Turkish President Erdoğan says some material at Saudi consulate painted over after Khashoggi's disappearance

ANKARA

Some materials at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared two weeks ago have been painted over, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Oct. 16.

Speaking after Turkish police entered the consulate for the first time and searched the premises for nine hours, Erdoğan also told reporters that they were looking into toxic materials at the mission.

Turkish officials have told Reuters that authorities have an audio recording indicating that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, and have shared evidence with countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States. Saudi Arabia has denied any role in Khashoggi’s disappearance.

“My hope is that we can reach conclusions that will give us a reasonable opinion as soon as possible, because the investigation is looking into many things such as toxic materials and those materials being removed by painting them over,” Erdoğan told reporters in Ankara.

The search was widened on Oct. 16 evening when Turkish police arrived the residence of the Saudi consul.

The consul, Mohammad Utaybi, returned to Saudi Arabia hours before the search, according to Turkish media reports.